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DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND PERFORMANCE

EVALUATION OF SOLAR DRYING SYSTEM FOR

VEGETABLE DRYING APPLICATIONS

A PROJECT REPORT PHASE - I

Submitted by

SUBASH.E (12MER194)

TAMILMARAN.R (12MER205)

THILAK.S (12MER208)

in partial fulfilment of the requirements

for the award of the degree

of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING

IN

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

SCHOOL OF BUILDING AND MECHANICAL SCIENCES

KONGU ENGINEERING COLLEGE

(Autonomous)

PERUNDURAI ERODE - 638 052

NOVEMBER 2015

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DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

KONGU ENGINEERING COLLEGE

(Autonomous)

PERUNDURAI,ERODE- 638 052

NOVEMBER 2015

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

This is to certificate that the Project report entitled DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SOLAR DRYING SYSTEM FOR VEGETABLE

DRYING APPLICATIONS is the bonafide record of project work done by

SUBASH.E (12MER194)

TAMILMARAN.R (12MER205)

THILAK.S (12MEL208)

in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of

Engineering in Mechanical Engineering of Anna University, Chennai during the year

2015-2016.

SUPERVISOR HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT

DATE:

Submitted for the end semester viva voce examination held on _________

INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER

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DECLARATION

We affirm that the Project Report entitled DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SOLAR DRYING SYSTEM FOR VEGETABLE

DRYING APPLICATIONS being submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for

the award of Bachelor of Engineering is the original work carried out by us. It has not

formed the part of any other project report or dissertation on the basis of which a degree

or award was conferred on an earlier occasion on this or any other candidate.

Date: Signature of the candidates

SUBASH.E (12MER194)

TAMILMARAN.R (12MER205)

THILAK.S (12MEL208)

I certify that the declaration made by the above candidates is true to the best of my

knowledge

Date: SUPERVISOR

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We wish to express our deep sense of gratitude to our beloved Correspondent

Thiru.V.K.MUTHUSAMY and all trust members of Kongu Vellalar Institute of

Technology Trust for providing all the necessary facilities to carry out the project

work.

We beholden to our beloved Principal Prof.S.KUPPUSWAMI for providing an

opportunity to carry out the project work.

We solemnly express our heartiest gratitude to our beloved Dean, School of

Building and Mechanical Sciences, Dr.K.KRISHNAMURTHY and for his

encouragement.

We would like to express our gratitude to Dr.P.NAVANEETHAKRISHNAN Head

of the Department of Mechanical Engineering for his precious suggestions.

We take this opportunity to thank Mr.M.MAKESHKUMAR, our supervisor,

Department of Mechanical Engineering for his valuable suggestions and

encouragement during the tenure of the project work.

A special debt is owed to Dr.A.SIVAKUMAR, the Project Coordinator, and

Department of Mechanical Engineering for his encouragement and valuable advice that

made us to carry out project work successfully.

We also thank the teaching and non-teaching staff members of Mechanical

Engineering Department and all our fellow students who stood with us to complete our

project successfully.

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ABSTRACT

The solar drying system utilizes solar energy to heat up air and to dry any food

substance loaded, which is beneficial in reducing wastage of agricultural product and

helps in preservation of agricultural product. Based on the limitations of the natural sun

drying e.g. exposure to direct sunlight, liability to pests and rodents lack of proper

monitoring, and the escalated cost of the mechanical dryer, a solar is therefore

developed to cater for this limitation. This project aims to present the design,

construction and performance evaluation of a solar drying system for food preservation.

In the dryer, the heated air from a separate solar collector is passed through a

vegetable bed, and at the same time, the drying cabinet absorbs solar energy directly

through the transparent walls and roof. A prototype of the solar drying system is to be

designed and its performance is to be evaluated for different air velocities.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

NO. NO.

ABSTRACT v

LIST OF FIGURES viii

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2 2.1 STUDIES RELATED TO DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

OF SOLAR DRYING SYSTEM 2

3. PROBLEM DEFINITION 6

3.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT 6

3.1.1 Space Problems 6

3.1.2 Weather Problems 6

3.1.3 Technology Problems 7

3.1.4 Power Problems 7

3.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT OBJECTIVES 8

3.3 PROBLEM CONSTRAINS 8

4. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 10

4.1 DESIGN SPECIFICATION AND ASSUMPTOIN 10

4.1.1 Solar Dryer Components 10

4.1.2 The Orientation of Solar Collector 11

5. DESIGN PROCEDURE AND IMPLEMENTATION 12

5.1 DESIGN PROCEDURE 12

5.1.1 The Experimental Setup 13

5.1.2 Collector 14

5.1.3 Drying Cabinet 14

5.1.4 Drying Mechanism 15

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5.2 DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION 15

6. FEASIBLITY STUDIES AND MARKET NEEDS 16

6.1 FEASIBLITY STUDY FOR FOOD SOLAR DRYER SYSTEM 16

7. CONCLUSION 17

8. REFERENCES 18

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LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE NO. NAME OF FIGURE PAGE NO.

5.1 SECTIONAL VIEW OF MIXEDMODE DRYER 13

5.2 TYPICAL SOLAR COLLECTOR FOR AIR HEATING

14